Another emetic

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives on Tuesday passed legislation severely restricting abortions, a move that could alienate women from the conservative party.

The bill would ban abortions 20 weeks after fertilization occurs, a time when a fetus begins to feel pain, Republicans said. The legislation makes exceptions for victims of rape and incest as long as they first report the crime to authorities.

And ask the Republican Party for forgiveness.

Republican leaders inserted an amendment to the bill that allows rape or incest victims to get an abortion if they reported the crime – a change abortion rights advocates said would shame and judge victims who are often reluctant to report the crime.

No one in their right mind will accuse the Republicans of having intelligence, empathy or sensitivity. Their extreme anti-choice, anti-abortion, anti-women stance no longer surprises or shocks me. However, their efforts to redefine 20 weeks as ‘late term’ and their emphasis on abortion bans may represent a change in policy dictated by some rudimentary intelligent, survival-based thinking. This was being discussed on The Last Word last night, which commented on the GOP having visibly shifted from the spate of personhood amendments. It appears that GOP may have finally come to the realization that this personhood business is unscientific and unpopular with most voters, and continuing to push it is counterproductive. I realize that this means that someone in GOP is actually thinking – no doubt a rare event by itself – within their narrow box of misogyny and hatred-laden minds.

Republican leaders inserted an amendment to the bill that allows rape or incest victims to get an abortion if they reported the crime – a change abortion rights advocates said would shame and judge victims who are often reluctant to report the crime.

How about “a change abortion rights advocates said will create an underclass of citizens prohibited from receiving medical care without a police report, and will barbarically jeopardize the medical care of God-fearing, patriotic citizens who suffer GSW.”

Does it actually say twenty weeks after fertilization or twenty weeks pregnant? Because you are officially two weeks pregnant when the sperm hits the egg, since it’s counted “LMP”–from the first day of the last menstrual period and the fertile period is two weeks before the next period.